Developers Method To Madness Studios are working on a stellar looking survival-horror game that hearkens back to the age where surviving and horror were the two main themes of the the sub-genre, instead of the more cinematic approach we see in most survival-horror games in this day and age.

The name of the game is called Dear Charlotte and the first episode will be released on PC at some point in the future. The story centers around John who must escape from a facility that has become toxic… literally toxic. All he has is a hazmat suit and he must trust a mysterious individual to help guide him to safety. The only trouble is that the mad Dr. Kremlin wants to extract as much information out of John as humanly possible.

The game is running on the Unreal Engine 4 and an announcement trailer was released not too long ago to give you an idea of what to expect from the title. Unlike a lot of other Unreal Engine 4-powered games, the trailer doesn’t dwell on the graphical capabilities or rendering techniques unique to Epic’s engine. Instead, the trailer does something entirely different: it sets up the story, the characters and the horror atmosphere for Dear Charlotte.

A lot of the commenters praise the render work, models and texturing, but it’s the atmosphere that they setup that really sells it. Instead of focusing on shader-porn, the trailer focuses on how they used the Unreal Engine 4 to create an unrelenting atmosphere of horror. The camera angles, the fog effects, the flickering lights, the slow pans… all of it was designed to set the mood, and they did a marvelous job of it.

The character animations look a little stiff, but there’s always time to work on the blending and give them slightly more realistic movements. My only question is if players will be able to defend themselves?

There are some ghastly looking villains that players will be going up against and it seems like it would be a real waste of an excellent concept if there was no way to at least keep them from eating you.

The South-Indian developers are a small team but they have big ambitions. They drew inspiration from games like Silent Hill, Amnesia and Outlast. Dear Charlotte Episode 1 appears to be a game shaping up to be of magnificent quality if they can bring it all together and ensure that the gameplay mechanics match up to the visual art-style and thematic elements.

That trailer definitely grabbed my attention. You can keep an eye on the game or learn more by visiting the official website.

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Billy has been rustling Jimmies for years covering video games, technology and digital trends within the electronics entertainment space. The GJP cried and their tears became his milkshake. Need to get in touch? Try the Contact Page.